# Horror Movies That Actually Scare You **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 20, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126 "2025-10-20T15:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/81 "2025-10-23T02:38:08Z")
_The Blair Witch Project_ I spent many, many years hiking, rafting, and camping. Usually deep into very remote areas of the Cascades or Rockies. Getting lost was one my deepest fears. TBWP scared the shit out of me. I still watch it every few years and, predictably, will spend the following night or three sleeping worse than usual. Not a horror movie, but the only movie I can think of that I have seen and will likely never watch again due to it being too unsettling/uncomfortable is _Wind River._ I will never watch _The Hunger Games._ I saw a single brief clip from the movie right after several people I knew were killed in a mass shooting and just… no. Just the thought is triggering. ---
**Author:** ![TekirKedi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tekirkedi/32/19028_2.png) [@TekirKedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TekirKedi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/82 "2025-10-23T04:51:52Z")
At the age of 7 or 8, it would have to have been _Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte_. Came out in the 60’s and to be honest I was supposed to be asleep in the back seat of the car while my parents watched the film at the drive-in; I needed my bedroom door left open and the hall light on after that. I would have to say that now, decades later, the Turkish film Baskın would fit your description. Neither my DH or I could finish the film. The eyeball scene got to us. However _Alien_ and _Predator_ are good choices. My DH says that _Pan’s Labyrinth_ is not a movie for me. Haven’t seen it, but will trust his judgement. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/83 "2025-10-23T05:43:44Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > The second time I saw it, also in theater, the audience screamed/yelled when “Spoiler spoiled” for a movie that’s 46 years old?? ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/84 "2025-10-23T05:55:46Z")
New people will be watching very old films for the first time all the time (the OP is likely a good example!), so I think it’s fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/85 "2025-10-23T08:20:33Z")
The Exorcist Part III contains, without doubt, the most terrifying jump scare ever filmed. It’s a genuine _Holy Shit!_ jump out of your seat while your heart jumps out of your chest moment. One of only a few that exist, IMO. The rest of the movie is pretty good, but the ending is a little bit of a let down. It’s still worth seeing, if just for that one moment. You don’t need to have seen the others to understand it. I’d also second _The Babadook_ and _It Follows._ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/86 "2025-10-23T13:33:33Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > _The Blair Witch Project_ > > I spent many, many years hiking, rafting, and camping. Usually deep into very remote areas of the Cascades or Rockies. Getting lost was one my deepest fears. Your fear of getting lost in those very remote areas was quite real. The ironic thing about TBWP, I heard, is that there is very little remote wooded area left in Maryland where the movie supposedly took place. Lost? Just follow the sound of traffic on I-70 😁 ---
**Author:** ![IMadeLem0nade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imadelem0nade/32/19241_2.png) [@IMadeLem0nade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMadeLem0nade)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/87 "2025-10-23T14:03:15Z")
Hiking is fun, and that is also one of my fears. I hate the idea of being completely lost, but I love it at the same time. I also have horrible thallasophobia (I don’t know how to spell that) and I cannot do the ocean. We want to be scared, so these are all great recommendations, but I think the ocean ones would get to me the best ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/88 "2025-10-23T14:24:12Z")
I guess it can be easy to get at least somewhat lost and disoriented, even in not very remote woods, and even when you have directions (at least for a dummy like me 😏). I went on a little hike one day on a set of clearly marked trails-- they were a series of linked loops, like a chain: OOOO. Each loop was 3 miles, so I was going to do the first 3 mile loop. But I had misinterpreted the signs and when I came to a junction, thinking I was almost back, I suddenly saw I had made a wrong turn and walked each half of two loops, like a ‘3’ instead of walking only the first loop. So I was at the halfway point of the chain: OO. My quick little 3 mile hike doubled into a 6 mile hike to get back to my car. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/89 "2025-10-23T14:34:54Z")
**Pet Sematary** (1989) Sure, it scared the hell out of me as a kid, but nearly 40 years later I still think about the Pascow scene when falling asleep, Judge’s achilles tendon scene when walking by a bed, and the older sister scene whenever looking at a photo of an antique bed. That film is still scary. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/90 "2025-10-23T15:50:11Z")
If you want to be scared, and the ocean does it for you, try _Open Water._ I’ll admit it’s not a great film but it’ll freak you out. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/91 "2025-10-23T21:14:32Z")
_The Haunting_ (1963) was the only movie I recall that really scared me, when I was 13, even though I had already read the book. The worst bit was when they were holed up in one room while something was approaching, pounding on the doors to the other rooms, one by one. Saw part of the remake, and was not impressed at all. The worst jump scare for me was the one at the end of the Sissy Spacek _Carrie_. My favourite horror movie, on the other hand, is _Triangle_, which I found much more fascinating than scary. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/92 "2025-10-24T05:46:06Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > My favourite horror movie, on the other hand, is _Triangle_, which I found much more fascinating than scary That’s a good one! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/93 "2025-10-24T15:08:10Z")
There are two of those scary scenes. (And the first line, and last line still resonate …”and whatever walked there, walked alone.”) I don’t know which is more disturbing, the movie or the book. Shirley Jackson’s writing really casts a spell… ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/94 "2025-10-24T21:44:31Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > My favourite horror movie, on the other hand, is _Triangle_, which I found much more fascinating than scary. I thought nobody else had heard of this movie. Great choice. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/95 "2025-10-24T21:57:42Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > _The Blair Witch Project_ > > I spent many, many years hiking, rafting, and camping. Usually deep into very remote areas of the Cascades or Rockies. Getting lost was one my deepest fears. I was a scoutmaster on many summer campouts. After seeing _The Blair Witch Project_, the sound I hated to hear the most in the middle of the night was the sound of one of the scouts’ tent zippers unzipping. It either meant they had to use the bathroom, or they threw up in the tent and wanted help cleaning it up. I’d wait a few minutes waiting for the tent to get zipped back up before deciding if I needed to get up and investigate. “Mr. John, I threw up” really ruins a good night’s sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/96 "2025-10-25T00:29:26Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > > [@SCAdian](#): > > > > My favourite horror movie, on the other hand, is _Triangle_, which I found much more fascinating than scary. > > I thought nobody else had heard of this movie. Great choice. Thirding _Triangle_! Really clever film. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/97 "2025-10-25T00:33:53Z")
I haven’t seen it but I’ve heard _Green Room_ is really scary. I want to see it but also I’m afraid of it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/98 "2025-10-25T00:34:15Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Thirding _Triangle_! What am I, chopped liver with a nice chianti? > [@SCAdian](#): > > My favourite horror movie, on the other hand, is _Triangle_, which I found much more fascinating than scary. > [@needscoffee](#): > > That’s a good one! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/99 "2025-10-25T00:42:26Z")
By the way – if anybody who isn’t familiar with _Triangle_ is curious, do not – repeat, NOT – watch the trailer. It gives away two major plot points. (And, of course, don’t read the Wiki article.) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/100 "2025-10-25T21:48:46Z")
It is very good, but I think of it more as a crime movie than a horror movie. It’s the kind of thing that would be extremely scary if you were experiencing it in reality, but in a movie is more exciting and suspenseful. There is some gory violence though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126.md?page=6)